Click, Click, Boom (Shutting Down Terrorist Websites)

Boston Magazine ^ | December 31 2007 | Paul Kix

[jveritas]

.... Joseph Shahda is waging a do-it-yourself war on terrorism that is proving very successful at frustrating his targets. Not to mention the federal government.

...Because he is not shy about the campaign he is waging, the terrorists now know his name, his face, and—because the press has mentioned it—that he lives somewhere near Boston. They talk endlessly of wanting to slay him, this Crusader, this Christian dog...

Since July, Shahda has shut down more than 50 jihadi websites whose message is worldwide Islamic fundamentalism and whose means is an online education in bomb-making……

...Shahda says censoring these sites is in the government’s best interest, because it stops the spread of propaganda and know-how for carrying out terrorist acts, many people in the federal government itself disagree. A Pentagon spokeswoman says, “We glean a lot of information from these sites.” An FBI spokeswoman says the same. Adds James Forest, the director of terrorism studies at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, “We’re not going to know the minds of the enemy unless we have a window into their perspectives.”....

Shahda points now to a spot in the top right corner of the Gateway’s monitor. Imagine this computer screen, he says, as the entirety of the Internet, and this spot as the terrorist the government wants. The government spends a year trying to find him online. Meanwhile the terrorist, this tiny spot, is launching new sites, filling the computer screen with big “Death to America” headlines and videos of how to slit a throat or make a mustard gas explosive. And even if investigators get lucky, even if the terrorist reveals his position and is arrested, his legacy lives on, on this computer screen, forever. Now, how many more terrorists does that create?....

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/click_click_boom/

[Calpernia]

Our own StillProud2befree

http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/007.asp

March 1, 2006: Me and Terrorist 007:

Tracking a terrorist through cyberspace

By Laura Mansfield

[Calpernia]

Links compiled by our own, Cindy:

ON THE NET...

THE ATLANTIC.com: "JIHAD 2.0 With the loss of training camps in Afghanistan, terrorists have turned to the Internet to find and train recruits.  The story of one pioneer of this effort-the enigmatic 'Irhabi 007'-shows how" by Nadya Labi (July/August 2006)

MEMRI.org - Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 275: "AL-TAJDEED versus AL-HESBAH: ISLAMIST WEBSITES & THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RIVAL ARAB & MUSLIM POLITICAL FORCES" by D. Hazan (May 17, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "IDENTITY OF INTERNET HAGANAH OPERATIVE REVEALED!" (May 3, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE CHARGE: SPREADING FITNA AMONGST THE VIRTUAL UMMAH" (April 27, 2006)

JAMESTOWN.org - Terrorism Focus: "FEARS OF INTELLIGENCE PENETRATION OF THE GIMF" by Stephen Ulph (April 25, 2006)

JAMESTOWN.org - Terrorism Focus: "MUJAHIDEEN MULL WHETHER AL-QAEDA IN THE PENINSULA IS A FAKE" by Stephen Ulph (April 25, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "WHITHER BRITANIA?" (April 20, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE READERSHIP OF THE TAJDEED FORUM Extracted from a SOFIR report released today." (April 20, 2006)

COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org: "PROMINENT JIHAD FORUM ANNOUNCES ARREST OF WEB ADMINISTRATOR" by Evan Kohlmann (April 15, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE WEB BROWSER AND OPERATING SYSTEM PREFERENCES OF THE USERS OF THE TAJDEED FORUM" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "From an upcoming report by the Society For Internet Research regarding the users of the Tajdeed forum (tajdeed.org.uk and tajdeedi.co.uk) operated in the UK by the Saudi exile group Party of Islamic Renewal (PIR)") (April 14, 2006)

SOFIR.org - SOciety For Internet Research

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "EVERYBODY BE COOL..." (April 12, 2006)

JAMESTOWN.org: "INTELLIGENCE WAR BREAKS OUT ON THE JIHADI FORUMS" by Stephen Ulph (April 11, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE ON-GOING SOAP OPERA FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE AL-HESBAH FORUM" (April 8, 2006)

THE COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG: "AL-QAIDA IN SAUDI ARABIA DENIES BEING INFILTRATED IN PURPORTED INTERNET STING" (April 7, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "AL-HESBAH ADMIN(S) ARRESTED?" (April 3, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "AL-HESBAH POSTS FAKE 'SUSPENDED SITE' MESSAGE" (March 18, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "MAKING ACCUSATIONS AGAINST AL-HESBAH CAN BE BAD FOR YOUR WEBSITE" (March 16, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "IRHABI007 AS A CASE-STUDY IN JIHADI COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE EFFORTS" (March 11, 2006)

"www.tajdeed.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39571"

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE READERS OF AL-HESBAH FORUM" (March 2, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE DECLINE AND FALL OF IRHABI007: EPISODE THREE, THE INTERNET (pg. 1) (March 2, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE DECLINE AND FALL OF IRHABI007: EPISODE THREE, THE INTERNET (pg. 2) (March 2, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE DECLINE AND FALL OF IRHABI007: EPISODE THREE, THE INTERNET (pg. 3) (March 2, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE DECLINE AND FALL OF IRHABI007: EPISODE THREE, THE INTERNET (pg. 4) (March 2, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE DECLINE AND FALL OF IRHABI007: EPISODE TWO, THE BUST" (March 1, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE DECLINE AND FALL OF IRHABI007: EPISODE ONE, THE NAME" (February 28, 2006)

THE JAWA REPORT: "INTERNET JIHADI #1 IRHABI 007 CAPTURED, NAME REVEALVED (Updated)" (February 28, 2006)

LauraMansfield.com: "ME AND TERRORIST 007: TRACKING A TERRORIST THROUGH CYBERSPACE" by Laura Mansfield (March 1, 2006)

"www.infovlad.net/?p=275" (September 11, 2005)

INTERNET-HAGANAH: "IRHABI 007 IS IN EALING, ENGLAND Or at least that's where the bastard was when we located him (a year and a half ago)." September 10, 2005)

INTERNET-HAGANAH: "VIDEO OF LONDON BOMBERS CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Produced by Al Qaida's Al Sahab production company, presumably in Pakistan or Afghanistan, aired by Al Jazeera, and distributed on the internet by dear old Irhabi[Terrorist]007.") (September 2, 2005)

"www.irhaab007.org/Alqaedah_london.zip"

INTERNET-HAGANAH: "WILL THE REAL QAL3AH PLEASE STAND UP" (August 14, 2005)

INTERNET-HAGANAH: "HEY, 007: HOW DO YOU LIKE THE FEEL OF THAT HOOK IN YOUR MOUTH?" (August 14, 2005)

INTERNET-HAGANAH: "GREAT MOMENTS FROM THE ONLINE EXPLOITS OF "Irhabi007," EPISODE NUMBER 3,432" (August 11, 2005)

INTERNET HAGANAH: "IRHABI007 & CO. PRESENT: AL-RASHUD, SAUDI AL QAIDA IDEOLOGUE EXTRAORDINAIRE" (March 21, 2005)

MSNBC.msn.com: "WEB VIDEO TEACHES TERRORISTS TO MAKE BOMB VESTS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: ""The video was accompanied by a note that explained it was there for the purposes of aiding the brothers, the fighting brothers, in cities in central Iraq," says NBC terror analyst Evan Kohlmann. Related story Latest on the Mosul attack Specifically, the note mentioned wanting to help fighters in Fallujah, Ramadi and Mosul, though there's nothing to tie this to Tuesday's attack. The person who posted the note and video on the Internet called himself "terrorist007." NBC News will not reveal most details, but the video demonstrates each step of bomb making: *select a fabric and sew the vest; *mix explosives; *arrange shrapnel to kill victims in a large radius; *attach a detonator.") (Updated December 22, 2004)

INTERNET-HAGANAH: "COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE GLOBAL JIHAD: THREE PLAYERS JOIN FORCES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Witness the collaboration between Abu Banan/Global Islamic Media and Irhabi007 in distributing the Al Qaida publication Sout al Jihad, with additional services provided by the French Islamist site ribaat.org" (September 1, 2004)

INTERNET-HAGANAH. (FREEREPUBLIC.com): "YO! IRHABI007, WE'LL HAVE A WORD WITH YOU MATE..." (August 12, 2004)

Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding WASHINGTON POST.com article: "AL QAEDA MESSAGES POSTED ON U.S. SERVER" (July 13, 2004) (Note: "007" mentioned)

[Calpernia]

>>>>Irhabi 007

See post 21. Irhabi 007 = Terrorist 007 for anyone not familiar with the story.

[Nickname]

What inevitably happens with a debacle that’s likely to result from our government’s studious inaction is a loss of freedom on our part.

Government agencies now have the tools and authority to do what you’re doing, but should terrorists succeed due to recruitment and information spread on those web sites, there’ll be a chorus of outrage coming out of DC and demands for government control over the internet.

People will largely agree that speech on the ‘net should be closely regulated if it saves just ONE life and we’ll all lose a little more freedom thanks to another government-created mess.

[jveritas]

ooops, do scare me = do not scare me.

[jveritas]

I simply hope that they implement the White House recommendation released on October 2007 which is to deny terrorist the recruiting tool through the internet which says on page 29 of the report (link posted in the orginal thread):

"Terrorists also seek sanctuary in the cyber domain, particularly the Internet, an inexpensive, geographically unbounded, and largely unconstrained virtual haven for our enemies. Terrorists use the Internet to create and disseminate propaganda, recruit new members, raise funds, and plan operations. The Internet has become a training ground, with terrorists acquiring instruction once possible only through physical training camps. In addition to discrediting their terrorist propaganda on the Internet with the promotion of truthful messages, we will seek to deny the Internet to our terrorist enemies as an effective safe haven for their recruitment, fund-raising, training, and operational planning."

[jveritas]

Thank you for posting these links. Happy New Year.

[AU72]

I see the Government playing “Dwayne” against the internet crusaders playing “John McClain” from Diehard.

[Calpernia]

Happy New Year to you too!

[jveritas]

Excellent analogy :)

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks.

Bump.

[thinden]

I see you survived the big chill.

was your power out?

[MizSterious]

Only for awhile. We didn’t even have time to fire up the generator.